An Italian court on Wednesday sentenced Camorra boss Maria Licciardi, one of the few women to lead a mafia clan, to almost 13 years in prison, media reports said.

Licciardi, 71, known as "the little one" because of her small stature, was arrested in August 2021 while attempting to fly to Spain, apparently to visit her daughter.

She was found guilty of being the leader of a Camorra clan founded by her brothers and handed 12 years and eight months in jail, ANSA news agency said.

She took over the clan in the Naples suburb of Secondigliano following the death of her brother Gennaro in prison in 1994.

Italy's interior ministry has also described her as a leading member of a group of families dubbed the "Secondigliano Alliance", which is said to control a large part of the organised crime in Naples.

She had previously served eight years in jail.

Licciardi was the inspiration for the chain-smoking female mob boss in the TV series "Gomorrah", according to journalist Roberto Saviano, who wrote the book about the Naples mafia on which it was based.